South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada performed exceptionally well against the West Indies on Saturday, August 10. In the fourth day of the first Test match being played in Port of Spain, the 29-year-old right-handed bowler took three wickets, conceding 56 runs in 18 overs. His efforts helped South Africa dismiss the West Indies for 233 runs in their first inning, giving them a substantial lead of 124 runs.
Rabada first removed Kavem Hodge, who scored 25 runs, and then took the wickets of Gudakesh Motie (0 runs) and Kemar Roach (2 runs).
By getting his first wicket in this game, Rabada increased his total number of wickets in Test cricket to 292, which allowed him to surpass the record of 291 Test wickets set by former all-rounder Jacques Kallis. Kallis played in 165 Test matches for South Africa and dismissed 291 batters during his career.
With this achievement, Rabada has now climbed to the sixth position among South Africa’s top wicket-takers in Test cricket.
Former fast bowler Dale Steyn holds the record for the most wickets in Test cricket for South Africa. Over his 15-year career, he dismissed 439 batters in 93 matches. Following Steyn is former captain Shaun Pollock, who ended his career with 421 wickets in 108 Tests.
Makhaya Ntini ranks third with 390 wickets, Allan Donald is fourth with 330 wickets, and Morne Morkel is fifth with 309 wickets in 86 Tests.
Most wickets for SA in Tests:
POSITION PLAYER MATCHES WICKETS BEST FIGURES
- Dale Steyn 93 439. 7/51
- Shaun Pollock 108 421 7/87
- Makhaya Ntini 101 390 7/37
- Allan Donald 72 330. 8/71
- Morne Morkel 86 309. 6/23
- Kagiso Rabada 63* 294 7/112
- Jacques Kallis 165 291 6/54
Kagiso Rabada, who first played for South Africa in a T20 match in Australia back in 2014, has now played in 63 Test matches.
South Africa bowled out the home team for 233 runs in the first innings and ended the fourth day without losing any wickets, having scored 30 runs in five overs. The South African team hopes to score quickly in the morning of the last day and build a lead of at least 250 runs before letting Kraigg Brathwaite’s team bat again.
Besides Rabada, Keshav Maharaj from South Africa also took four wickets in the first innings. He got three batters out on the third day and then took the fourth wicket, which was Joshua Da Silva, who scored one run.
